super- reen - Royal Huisman

THE GREENING
OF YACHTING
SUPERREEN
SUPERyachts
Royal Huisman’s
58-meter Ethereal
& others herald
winds of change
WASTE NOT
Companies go
overboard
to clean up
yacht discharge
CLEAN MARINAS
Marinas join the
march to get
cleaner and
greener
COVER_FINAL.indd 2
6/11/09 9:46:53 AM
greenissue
Yachtbuilders, designers and owners are making
headway on improving efficiency and reducing the
industry’s environmental impact Story by Justin Ratcliffe
Let’s be frank: There is no such thing today as a “green” superyacht, and it is unlikely there ever will be. As
editor Andrew Rogers points out in the February 2009 edition of Yacht Valley, published by the HISWA
Holland Yachting Group, “A truly environmentally friendly superyacht would require a galley of oarsmen
led by Ben Hur, leaving little room for cooking or for guests.”
Joking aside, in an era where Al Gore wins the Nobel Peace Prize for putting global warming on the
political agenda, where the Dow Jones has a sustainability index and Wall Street traders talk of “ethical
investment,” the superyacht industry is under increasing pressure to be seen to be doing the right thing.
Indeed, Rogers continues his editorial with the observation that “it is clear that a genuine awareness of the need to be greener is
prevailing across the spectrum of the yachting community.”
Holland is one of the world’s most densely populated nations and, consequently, a leading campaigner on environmental
issues. So it comes as no surprise that a Dutch superyacht builder, Royal Huisman, is at the vanguard of research into environmentally friendly technology. Last October, the shipyard launched Bill Joy’s 58-meter sailing yacht Ethereal, which since its
inception has been touted as one of the most technologically advanced and complex sailing superyachts ever built.
Created by Ron Holland Design, Pieter Beeldsnijder Yacht Design and Royal Huisman, Ethereal is a graceful, 190-foot
world-cruising ketch with classic sheer, easy-on-the-eye superstructure and beautifully appointed accommodations. But
beneath the surface lies some cutting-edge design and engineering features that collectively represent a “quantum shift in energy
efficiency,” enabling Ethereal to operate for extended periods
under her own resources.
The yacht’s hybrid electro-mechanical propulsion system can
recharge her lithium-polymer battery bank through the drivetrain
under sail rather than relying on generators. She is able to raise
anchor, motor, hoist sails and run ship systems from quiet, stored
electrical power. Energy demands rigorously were addressed through
innovations in insulation, lighting, appliances, watermaking and
air-conditioning. Gains in speed and propulsion efficiency were
Above: VSY’s 72-meter project illustrates how building a
achieved from model and tank testing. Large propellers and the
“green” boat begins at the very start of the design process.
ability to generate power from the main engines increase fuel
Opposite: Royal Huisman’s 190-foot, cutting-edge Ethereal.
efficiency and reduce maintenance. The winged keel increases
40 green issue 2009 | SHOWBOATS.COM
©2009 Espen Øino International S.A.R.L. (left); ©Franco Pace (opposite)
as can be
greenissue | green as can be
Efficiency is a key issue for Ron Holland and
one that does not have to rely on new technologies.
and Marco Polo (above
right); although one is
a motor yacht and the
other a sailing yacht,
both were designed with
efficiency as a primary
design criterion.
Above: Michael Peters
pictured at Yacht Vision
’08 where he spoke about
environmental issues and
the yachtbuilding industry;
one topic mentioned was
the amount of teak used
aboard Rising Sun (right).
windward sailing performance, while underwater appendages were faired for the lowest possible drag.
Back in March 2008 when the yacht still was under
construction, designer Ron Holland discussed the project
at the Yacht Vision symposium in Auckland, New Zealand.
He quickly put to rest the concept that Ethereal is a truly
“green” yacht because it still draws on vast quantities of materials such as teak (although Royal Huisman
is looking into synthetic alternatives such as
those produced by the Dutch firm Esthec).
Instead, he focused on how the owner’s objective was to take a new look at resources in
order to increase efficiency and minimize the
yacht’s impact on the environment.
“How we got there was an extremely
refreshing and innovative process,” says
Holland. “Bill Joy said he wanted to look at
every aspect of sailing design and technology
and introduced us to the ‘charette’ method
of brainstorming ideas—a non-judgmental
approach of putting every possible new idea
on the table and inviting world experts to
comment….It set a psychological platform
for a fresh and open-minded look at subjects that we thought we knew all about and
wouldn’t normally critique.”
Efficiency is a key issue for Ron Holland
and one that does not have to rely on new technologies. A
case in point is Marco Polo, the 45-meter long-range explorer
yacht launched by MCC/Cheoy Lee in China in 2007.
Conventional wisdom has it that large motor yachts typically have a twin-screw configuration. Conventional wisdom
also has it that the world’s large commercial vessels—where
fuel-efficiency is vital—typically have a single-screw configuration. The Ron Holland Design team took a closer look at
this paradox and concluded that they could create a singlescrew motor yacht with all the performance and handling
characteristics of “conventional” designs, yet offering a fuel
savings of some 34 liters per hour. Sometimes less is more.
42 green issue 2009 | SHOWBOATS.COM
says Peters. “The industry has a history of seeking out exotic,
often endangered materials.”
As an early example, he chose the Royal Yacht Britannia,
which during her construction in 1953 used so much teak
that her builders envisaged a time when the timber would
be an endangered resource. Britannia was built at least
three decades before the rise of the superyacht industry,
which brought super-consumption with it. Fifty years later,
some 10,000 square meters of teak went into the building
of 138-meter Rising Sun.
It is not all bad news. Standards introduced by RINA
Green Star, MARPOL and Lloyd’s Register Green Passport
Justin Ratcliffe (far left, top and bottom);
John Anderson (top left)
Above: Ron Holland,
the designer of Ethereal
Naval architect Michael Peters, another speaker at
the green-tinged Yacht Vision ’08, raised further environmental issues that today are at the forefront of the
yachtbuilding industry. Peters has based his career since
the early eighties on designing high-performance race
boats and is an unlikely convert to the green-is-good
school of thought. Nevertheless, while researching his
presentation he came up with some discomforting statistics. He found that a typical 150-foot, full-displacement
motor yacht running at 1,000 hours per year at 12 knots
produces 50 times more greenhouse gases than an average family of four over the course of a year. He went on
to tell an increasingly sheepish audience that a yacht like
The World Is Not Enough running at high speed burns
in just 1.7 hours the same energy resources that keep an
average family of four going for a year.
“Then there is the steel and aluminum production, the
teak, the oil and the resin…not to mention the animal skins
and the destruction of reefs through careless anchoring,”
Left: Tribù, superyacht
of Luciano Benetton
(pictured far left),
was the first to have
RINA Green Star
certification. Owners
are coming under
increasing pressure to
Justin Ratcliffe (top left); Courtesy of Mondomarine (top right); ©SkySails (bottom)
be seen to be green.
are designed to combat pollution issues, for example. But
Peters sees recycling as the most sustainable way to protect the environment. As a relatively young industry, the
superyacht sector has not yet had to face up to the environmental hazards posed by commercial shipbreaking.
“Many boats being designed today will not see a second
life,” Peters points out. “It is simply not designed into the
formula. As designers and builders, we have to come up with
a longer-lasting shelf life, and we have to encourage owners
to build these kinds of boats.
“We have to look at the standards that already exist, and
then we can look for some direction,” Peters concludes.
“There are certainly technologies out there that are beginning to push in different directions, and we can clearly be
more fuel efficient.”
Peters himself is working on a 48-meter, hyper-efficient
project that uses diesel-electric propulsion and Voith
Schneider drives for fuel savings of 20 percent or more
over conventional systems.
“What I like is problem solving,” says Peters, “and I
want to see if we can go slow as well as fast and be creative
about it. Racing is about being a little bit better than the
guy behind you, and going slow is like that too. So it’s not
as far removed from the high-speed arena as you think. It’s
all about efficiency.”
Joy is not the only yacht owner concerned about protecting the environment. Others, over and above their
personal ethics, are increasingly conscious of how public
opinion is inclined to frown on the super-sized carbon
footprints of their superyachts.
Luciano Benetton is one such example. His 50-meter
explorer motor yacht Tribù, launched in 2007, was the first
superyacht to carry RINA’s Green Star notation. A voluntary
initiative, the notation allows an owner to document his or
her respect for the environment via a series of precise technical criteria. These include systems for treating bilge and ballast
water, possibly contaminated with fuel and oil, in special
holding tanks; alarm sensors and anti-pollution equipment
in case of accidental spillage of hydrocarbons; anti-fouling
paint for the hull that does not contain toxic pesticides such
as TBT; differentiated trash collection with refrigerated storage of organic waste for treatment and recycling; and strict
controls on nitrous and sulphurous gas emissions that are
damaging to the ozone layer. The advantage for a long-range
yacht like Tribù is that its owner can voyage to remote and
possibly delicate ecosystems around the globe secure in the
knowledge that they will not be affected adversely. RINA
recently strengthened its commitment to more environmentally friendly shipping by launching Green Plus, based
on a performance index that covers all aspects of the vessel’s
impact on the environment, including carbon emissions.
Green Star, originally conceived for cruise ships, is an
example of how commercial shipping rather than the superyacht industry is leading the way in blue-sky, green concept
vessels. Another case in point is Bremen, Germany’s Beluga
Shipping GmbH. Last year in Hamburg it launched a 132meter cargo ship with the first commercial application of
the SkySails concept. A significant step forward in finding a
sustainable way out of dependence on diesel oil and reducing damaging emissions, Beluga Shipping believes that
“potential [fuel] savings of 20 to 30 percent are definitely
feasible and realistic.” British designer Rob Humphreys
Below: cargo vessel
Beluga SkySails
about to embark on
her maiden voyage
equipped with an
auxiliary towing kite.
British naval architect
Rob Humphreys is
working on yacht
concepts that
incorporate the
same technology.
SHOWBOATS.COM | GREEN ISSUE 2009 43
greenissue | green as can be
E/S Orcelle is a concept project from Wallenius
Wilhelmsen Logistics for a hydrogen-fuel-cell
Below: Guillaume
Roché of Sunrise
Yachts firmly believes
in the future of
fuel-cell technology.
is working with the system’s innovator, Stephan Wrage, to
develop a superyacht that utilizes SkySails technology. The
first of a possible series is a 40-meter trimaran motor yacht
that has three propulsion modes: power, hybrid and towing
kite only. The slender hullforms are derived from wavepiercing outriggers to make the most of the kite’s tractive
force and maximize interior volume. VPP calculations
show a potential top speed of more than 20 knots using a
320-square-meter kite.
“Although the project is still a case of work in progress,” says Humphreys, “what we envisage is a motor yacht
with the transoceanic freedom of a large sailing yacht,
able to fly the SkySail for sustained periods for relatively
fast, comfortable and quiet sailing.” While no orders have
been confirmed to date, Humphreys also has developed an
80-foot monohull designed to carry a towing kite as a lowspeed, auxiliary energy source.
Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics in Sweden has developed a concept ship that, although ironically a car carrier,
features a pentamaran hullform propelled in part by pods
powered by hydrogen fuel cells, batteries and fold-down
solid sails with additional
electricity supplied by solar
panels in the sails. Named
E/S Orcelle (E/S stands for
“Environmentally sound
Ship”), the concept is
unlikely ever to be built in
its entirety, but hydrogen
fuel-cell technology is one
of the great future hopes
for powering hotel services
aboard superyachts.
44 green issue 2009 | SHOWBOATS.COM
Sunrise Yachts in Antalya, Turkey, is actively researching
green technologies. Cofounder Guillaume Roché believes
that “in five years’ time, Sunrise Yachts will be able to build
a carbon-neutral boat using fuel-cell technology.” Fuel cells
produce electricity, but also a lot of heat and steam that can
be used to heat water or condensed to make drinking water.
“So all of a sudden you’re generating efficient, clean
power, and you eliminate the most important sources of
noise and vibration on board: generators, watermakers
and A/C compressors,” explains Roché. “We can’t get away
from diesel engines for now, but what you then do is go
away and buy yourself some carbon credits and you have a
carbon-neutral boat.”
Fuel cells and other emerging technologies are still
years away from becoming mainstream solutions. Until
that happens, diesel engines will remain the principal
power source aboard superyachts, and research will focus
on increasing efficiency.
One shipyard putting environmental protection at the
core of its production process is Viareggio Superyachts
(VSY), in Italy. The yard recently launched two 62-meter
sisterships designed by Espen Øino. For the sea trials of
Candyscape II, the first hull to splash (and, incidentally,
the first yacht to be designed from the outset with Green
Star certification in mind), the company bought from
Yacht Carbon Offset 963 euros of carbon credits, equivalent to 24,000 liters of fuel. According to the Det Norske
Veritas (DNV) classification society, VSY is the only yard
at present with an integrated manual covering quality,
environment and safety certifications. But the company’s
green policy goes further, and an upcoming 72-meter
project illustrates how building a “green” boat begins at
the very start of the design process.
Justin Ratcliffe (bottom, 2)
commercial vessel with solid sails and solar panels.
“Whether it’s more efficient hull shapes, new materials or alternative fuel sources, this is just the beginning.” —Michael Peters
shapes, new materials or alternative fuel sources, this is just
the beginning.” Amen.
To charter or find out more: Camper & Nicholsons International (Ethereal), 954-524-4250, [email protected]; Burgess
Monaco (Marco Polo), +377 97 97 8121, charter@burgess
yachts.com; Fraser Yachts Monaco (Tribù), +377 93 100 480,
[email protected]; Candy & Candy (Candyscape II),
+44 20 7592 2000, [email protected].
This page: VSY’s new
72-meter project
was designed from
the outset to include
several energyefficient features to
reduce its impact on
the environment.
Michela Reverberi (top right); Laurent Giles/Courtesy of VSY Technical Department (middle);
©2009 Espen Øino International S.A.R.L. (bottom)
“Our technical office went to great lengths to design a
system of seacocks on deck for recycling rainwater for washing the decks,” explains Alex Jacopozzi, marketing and
communications manager for VSY. “The dirty water is then
recollected and scrubbed clean for reuse. This not only
means detergents are not washed overboard, but less energy
is consumed for making freshwater.”
Other energy-efficient features include double A/C
ducting in the cabins; one for pumping cooled air in and
another for rerouting the air to where it is most needed.
Although the yacht will have traditional diesel propulsion, both propellers and shaft lines are variable pitch. This
means that during long crossings, just one variable shaft
can be used to optimize engine torque while a feathering
prop on the other shaft reduces drag. The result is less noise
and maintenance combined with an increase in range of
over 500 nautical miles. Another seemingly minor, yet
innovative design feature is the decision to install drinking
fountains in the crew areas to drastically reduce the consumption and recycling of plastic bottles. The owner will
still have his San Pellegrino mineral water, but perhaps the
same concept should be introduced in the guest areas?
What all these examples illustrate is that a new mode of
thinking and a commitment to changing how the superyacht
industry is perceived and managed is already under way.
“We are living through the consequences of 150 years of
using the cheapest and easiest form of energy on Earth.
And also the dirtiest,” says naval architect Peters. “I don’t
think we can even imagine where it goes from here. This is
not the end of anything. Whether it’s more efficient hull
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